New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced funding to hire 5,000 new NYPD officers over the next three years.
The announcement comes just days before New Yorkers will elect their next mayor, which will not be Adams.
The issue of NYPD headcount has been hotly contested in the mayoral campaign.
Adams approves $300 million to hire NYPD officers
With early voting well underway, Adams on Friday said he approved more than $300 million to hire the new officers, which will bring the department to its highest level in decades.
“The vast majority of New Yorkers want more police officers on their streets and in the subways,” Adams said in a statement. “Now, New York City will be on a path to reach 40,000 police officers in the next three years — the highest number of police officers in 20 years.”
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, with New York Mayor Eric Adams, in Times Square for a New Year’s Eve safety preparations news conference on Monday, December 30, 2024.
Ted Shaffrey / AP
NYC mayor’s race heating up
Democrat Zohran Mamdani, the frontrunner in Tuesday’s election, has said he’s comfortable with the NYPD’s current officer count and would look to other ways to lower crime and improve public safety. Independent Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa are campaigning on hiring thousands of new officers – Cuomo wants to add 5,000, and Sliwa wants 7,000.
Three recent polls showed Mamdani carrying a commanding lead with likely voters, but another poll had Cuomo closing the gap.
Adams endorsed Cuomo in the three-man race.
Over the summer, the mayor and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch swore in 1,100 police officer recruits, the largest class since January 2016, according to Adams’ office. So far in 2025, the NYPD has hired 2,911 officers, the most since 2006, the mayor’s office said.
All three candidates said they would like Tisch to remain police commissioner in their administration during their final debate.
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